Chocolate Is Heart Healthy

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Just in time for Valentine's Day—a reminder that chocolate is good for the heart.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reminds us that chocolate might be a calorie-dense food (a small snack-size candy bar is typically in the 40 to 100 calorie range), but the fat found in chocolate is stearic acid. The paper cites a study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1997 that found stearic acid could increase levels of HDL (the "good" cholesterol) and people who eat milk chocolate had lower than expected levels of LDL (the "bad" cholesterol). In addition, University of California-Davis researchers established that chocolate contains high amounts of phenolic compounds, which are antioxidants and so may help reduce the risk of heart disease.

If you need yet another reason to indulge in the food of the gods (what the scientific name for the cacao tree, Theobroma, means), chocolate today comes in many organic and fair trade varieties.

Most of the world's chocolate is produced in West Africa in Ghana, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast. Cocoa is also produced in some South American countries. The author suggests that chocolate should not be a substitute for the main food groups of grains, vegetables, fruits, protein foods, and dairy products, so remember to enjoy it as part of a healthy diet.

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